Is one small rat enough for 2 year old ball python

Tonight is our 4th feeding since we got out just about two year old female ball python Jupiter or as my wife calls her Snakey snake. she has been eating great on f/t small rats. But tonight she ate her rat great and now is acting like she still wants to eat. She has had her head out of her hide in a strike pose and if you are by the enclosure she will fallow you back and forth with her head just wondering if I should start feeding more she has been getting fed every 10 days

It's not about age it's about size.

Also feeding mode and cruising for food can start hours before feeding and can last hours after feeding, does not always mean the animal should be fed more

Thank you very much we are new to this have done lots of reading months before we got her but still always feel a little unsure lol feels like being a new parent all over again lol

Best thing to do is to feed according to those guidelines https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ing-Guidelines

While BP are opportunistic and could eat 2,3,4 rats at once they are also notorious when it comes to fasting so finding the right balance that allows your animal to eat with more consistency will help the animal and yourself, because when they go of feed it becomes very frustrating and often worrysome for new owners.

You should be feeding your snake a rat that is approx. as big around as the widest part of your snake's body. I feed all of my ball pythons every 7 days. Every snake will be different, of course, but my recommendation is to start there and adjust as needed. This is basically the same as the feeding guidelines already posted, but if you can't measure in grams you can at least measure by visually comparing size. It doesn't have to be perfect - some BPs will even take prey that is slightly larger, some prefer a smaller prey item. Or you could get really lucky like me and have one that likes a large rat one one week and a medium one the next. (She's very picky.)

I agree it's all about the size of the snake & they can be hard to measure (or weigh, if you don't have a good gram scale), so I also judge their prey size by the
size of their unfed mid-body, feeding prey that is slightly narrower than the snake. Keep in mind that slight underfeeding is healthier for them than slight over-
feeding, & also that many snakes being fed on the large side are more likely to be picky eaters & want to skip some meals, which tends to frustrate & annoy most
keepers.

Feeding every 10 days sounds pretty reasonable to me, but as previously mentioned, many snakes stay in "feed mode" for hours or few days, especially in warm
weather; also, that young adult female BPs tend to have more appetite than male BPs, instinctivly to size up for breeding, so if this continues you might want to
feed meals slightly closer together, or slightly larger in size. But it's certainly not an "emergency", & whatever you do, don't give in & feed another prey item on
top of a meal that's partly digested...unless you want to see your snake regurgitate & waste both items & then have to with-hold food for a few weeks while they
replenish their digestive enzymes adequately (so that another regurge doesn't occur).

Short answer: don't worry about it ;)

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You should be feeding your snake a rat that is approx. as big around as the widest part of your snake's body

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Not the best advice considering that you do not know the size of the snake in question and no feeding a prey equal the girth size of a snake is not the same as the guideline provided above.

If you had a 4000 grams snakes which I assume you do not have you would based on your advise feed a 300/350 grams rat which is way too big and will only make the animal sluggish and more inconsitant when it comes to feeding.

Thanks for all the advice guys this has to be the most helpful forum I have been on for anything so glad I found it

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Originally Posted by Stewart_Reptiles

Not the best advice...

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Feeding a prey item approximately as large as the widest part of your snake is pretty standard advice, given by both hobbyists and large breeders. I have many snakes that I also use this rule of thumb with and mine are all healthy, their weights are good for their length, and all eat on regular schedules.

I was merely trying to offer some advice to someone who sounded new to ball pythons and probably didn't have a gram scale where they could weigh both their snake and their prey item to make sure they get the prey sized up exactly right. This is not an exact science and all snakes are different, which I already said.

I'm curious as to why you chose to single out my comment regarding size when someone else posted the same advice?

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Originally Posted by redpandakitty

Feeding a prey item approximately as large as the widest part of your snake is pretty standard advice, given by both hobbyists and large breeders. I have many snakes that I also use this rule of thumb with and mine are all healthy, their weights are good for their length, and all eat on regular schedules.

I was merely trying to offer some advice to someone who sounded new to ball pythons and probably didn't have a gram scale where they could weigh both their snake and their prey item to make sure they get the prey sized up exactly right. This is not an exact science and all snakes are different, which I already said.

I'm curious as to why you chose to single out my comment regarding size when someone else posted the same advice?

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It is a bad advice this is recommended for hatchlings not animals that are two years old the animal could be 2000 grams for all you know so that would be overfeeding the animal. (Which means fast, possible fatty liver issue etc)

Same thing people will recommend 10% or 15% rule yet again you can only go by that for hatchlings, animals grow, metabolism changes etc.

So yes it is an advice that is often given but in certain cases only it does not apply to all which is why it cannot be repeated in all circumtances either.

Admittedly (since we haven't seen the snake or gotten many details) the snake could already be obese, in which case feeding prey as thick as the snake's body
would be a terrible idea. Chances are good this wasn't the case, but I take Deborah's point.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Admittedly (since we haven't seen the snake or gotten many details) the snake could already be obese, in which case feeding prey as thick as the snake's body
would be a terrible idea. Chances are good this wasn't the case, but I take Deborah's point.

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[IMG]https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/RKH8y3R.jpg[/IMG]

this is the best picture o have of her stretched out i will pick up a scale tomorrow and start going off the chart posted. She will be two years old this September

She's beautiful & she doesn't look obese to me, but neither is she starving. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Stewart_Reptiles

So yes it is an advice that is often given but in certain cases only it does not apply to all which is why it cannot be repeated in all circumtances either.

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Which is exactly why I said start with that general rule and adjust as needed. Even the link you provided with the "Guidelines" say that there is "no right way to feed" and "find what works for you and your pet".

I both understand and agree with your point that we don't know the condition of the animal, and I admit that I could have and should have started my advice a bit better than "You should...". But I still believe it's good advice for a STARTING point when learning what to feed your snake.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

She's beautiful & she doesn't look obese to me, but neither is she starving. :gj:

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Thank you we Love her !

I agree, she is very pretty and from what we can see in the picture she looks great. Congratulations on your new addition!

Yeah i think ur snake is obv feeding aggressively which is good. Whenever u reach in to grab her use a toilet paper or something to bop her on the nose whenever it is not feeding time n she will get used to it n not snap at ya if she ever does. My male does this too. But calms down the next day. They are animals that have instincts and dont know for a fact they are not getting another meal so its natural to be alert after they get something because where there is one there is more. Mine used to be a miuser that would get multiple nice so i attribute this to that as well as he has been so used to getting 3 or 4 mice as opposed to his one med rat now which im so happy i finally got him to take.

Honestly if she is eating thats great. As for breeding if thats what she is going thru it only makes sense for her to wanna eat more (unless ur breeding her she def doesnt need to). They go months without eating and in the wild often give their life to incubating and protecting their babies.